Word Bubbles

Yesterday was very exciting. I went shopping. I bought a new piece of furniture for my kitchen at the used store for only 4000, which is a steal for how big it is. And it has wooden tops (the rest is metal) and a place to hang cups or something and a plug so that I can plug in things into like an AV cart. It’s really nice. And I have a microwave. And an oven, except that’s also the microwave. I also bought a standup thing to hang my laundry on because it’s been raining just enough everyday that I really need to keep my laundry inside and the thing I had was not strong enough for a whole load of clothes. This thing is. I also got a very nice new fan that is not covered in rust and dust and that I can’t clean well because the rust holds the dust. I also bough “groceries” for the first time since really coming here. Instead of just buying a few things to get me by for today. I bought some curry, that is good for an “oh, I don’t have anything to cook” kind of meal as the package really keeps, and some tofu, and some salmon that was a really good price. And some edamame for a healthy snack that I really wish I’d remembered a few minutes ago before my snack of packaged popcorn. And yogurts for breakfast. Good times.

Today we went around and shopped for bikes for Amy. I was really considering buying one, but after really thinking about it, I don’t see as much of a need. It’s just another thing that might break, and I have the car and the scooter, and my own two legs. I don’t want to deal with chains and brakes and tires on top of all that. So I think I’ll be just as happy to not spend the money.

Speaking of my own two legs, that’s how I’ve been justifying buying dinner out several nights a week. I figure it helps if I walk there and back. Last night I actually made it out to San Goya and tried something that the waitress couldn’t explain and I couldn’t understand. It turned out to be tempura fried (I understood that much) whole garlic. It was really interesting, and tasty :D I also found out that they do tempura with the salt mixture instead of the dipping sauce. Good to know. Really tasty. Not really filling so far a meals go, but didn’t feel like paying more than the 650 for dinner, so after I WALKED to San-e and bought the afore mentioned groceries. And an onigiri, which made the meal still be under 800 ;)

Oh, and did I mention today is payday? I celebrated by spending the “last” of my start up cash on an amazon.com.jp order. In theory I should have enough books to make it until Christmas, especially since school is starting up and I shouldn’t have quite so much free time. But I don’t have TV and haven’t really felt like watching much on the computer, so reading is my big entertainment. And shipping is free.

You might be asking why “last” was in quotation marks. It’s because when I transferred money to yen, I did it out of my American account by just adding two zeros on the end to get the yen I wanted. Now, the yen does not equal the dollar, so if I had, say $800 from my last paycheck, and I told the international ATM that I wanted 80000yen, then I would get my 80000yen and still have about $150 in my American account. Happy day for me. It’ll be really tricky when I start to send money back home. I have to watch out for the exchange rate.

Mmm, I think I’m gonna go for a walk now. Like a real walk. Remind me, I need to make an actual post about HOW things are different here from the main land.

Ah, well. Party on.